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A-list entertainment lawyer Barry Hirsch, whose midnight defection to a new firm in August made news in Variety and the LAT (and got the business in Nikki Finke's L.A. Weekly column, where she said feeling bad for Hirsch was like "taking up a collection for the West Nile Mosquito Defamation League"), borrows the sympathetic ear of the NYT. Hirsch poo-poos the idea that's he's worked some kind of mind-control mojo on the tamper-prooof brains of clients such as J. Lo and Julia Roberts:

Mr. Hirsch, who has a master's degree in behavioral science from Azusa Pacific University, scoffed at that contention. "The idea that I'm some sort of Svengali who hypnotized clients to come with me is laughable," he said last week. "My clients are sophisticated business people perfectly capable of acting on their own free will."

Of course, the best thing about the NYT piece is a quote by Endeavor agent (and Defamer favorite) Ari Emanuel, who relishes the opportunity to look down his nose at the hubub, sneering "Since I've been an agent, I've never heard of this kind of thing between big Hollywood lawyers." Indeed. If this spat had been between agents, someone would have ended up with their ear chewed off and their Beemer key-marked.